A Fireman's Love

Quality Time

It had been about a day since Ivan was released from the hospital. I was on the night shift and sitting in the day room in the middle of the night, by myself yet again.

I was fiddling with my phone, talking to my best friend, Claire, on Facebook. when a familiar face showed up in the door's window. It was my friend Keith.

I had recently met him, but he always talked to me instead of going to sleep- it was nice.

He opened the door, waved at me and started to walk away. A second later he came back and said, "Are you gonna come out and be sociable?"

"Maybe," I smiled as he vanished, letting the door close behind him. I was generally a quiet person and they made fun of me because when I first started riding on the ambulance, I never talked to anyone besides my crew.

I pushed myself from the couch and shoved my feet into my boots before heading outside with Keith. I turned to the picnic table to see Ivan sitting outside as well. As I sat down, he took a pinch of dip and placed in his mouth, passing the container to Keith.

What a nasty habit.

"Want some?" Keith handed me the can.

"No," I shook my head.

"Suit yourself."

I sighed, looking up into the sky. I could barely see a few stars peaking through the darkness at us.

What if there really is something out there, watching us? I pondered this thought for a moment, before being torn away from it by Keith climbing up off of the table.

I watched as he grasped the basketball and stood a couple of feet from the basket itself. He shot the ball and it bounced off of the corner, away from the basket.

"Aw," I teased him and he glared back at me.

Ivan was laughing next to me, "You are horrible at that!"

"You come shoot it, then!" Keith shouted at him.

Ivan accepted and walked over, stealing the ball from Keith and shooting a perfect basket, "Ha!" He wandered back over to the picnic table and sat down next to me again.

"He may be decent at basketball but you should see him when he's drunk!" Keith called to me, "One time, he got so drunk he was running! Now tell me, how often do you see a fat man run?"

"Oh gosh," I laughed a little too hard.

"Shh!" Ivan had shushed us! He turned his head towards the road, listening. "I think it's time for me to go inside..."

"What? Why?" Keith asked, now confused.

"Uhh, I think that girl is back..."

Earlier, a girl that he almost had sex with- he's kind of a whore- showed up randomly at the station. He hid on the rescue side with me and she eventually left.

"Shit..." he listened for a couple of moments before relaxing again.

"So, did you ever find out if that kid was yours?" Keith glanced over at Ivan before shooting the basketball again.

"You don't get DNA results until three months after the test is taken. She only did it last month... but damn that kid looks like me."

Keith nodded at him.

"I still don't understand how I fell for that cheating shit," he shook his head, placing it in his palms.

"You were head over heels... I probably would've done the same," Keith shrugged.